The Alpha's Mistress

25

Word Count: 1835

~Sienna

Dawn light chases me across the dewy lawn, my breath clouding in front of me.

A figure lurks exactly where we always meet. Their shoulders are hunched, one hand in their pocket, their other holding whatever they are smoking.

"I'm surprised you came," I note as I approach.

One last glance back at the manor shows I'm not being followed. Everyone is still snoozing, giving me a small window of time to meet with this man.

His hood casts a shadow over his face, concealing an identity I know too well. He only does it in case someone finds us here, which is very possible.

He takes a long drag of his cigarette. "Why wouldn't I?"

"The last time you didn't." I rub my arms. I'm cold, despite my coat. "You have no reason to fear Onyx."

This man, Tom, and I have been meeting for years. After my mother died, he got in touch, being the only reminder of my dark, terrible childhood.

The problem is, to keep my secret, I need him.

"That isn't entirely true," he notes.

"He wouldn't hurt someone close to me," I insist. It would take some convincing, but Onyx would spare anyone if I demanded it fervently enough.

"Are we close?" He asks gruffly.

I scrunch my nose up at the bitter smell he's puffing out. "You're the only person left from my childhood who I trust. That's as close as it gets."

"What do you need?" He cuts straight to the chase.

"Someone left a note on my vanity the other morning," I say lowly, as if someone my be lurking at the edge of the property, hoping to overhear us. "They threatened me to tell my secret or they would do it for me."

Tom straightens, officially intrigued. "Who?"

"I don't know. I was hoping you did."

For my own safety and his, I haven't seen his face in years. He keeps an eye on me, on the comings and goings of this place that may affect me. Unfortunately he wasn't present at Maren's to warn me about Zion's presence.

That was an interaction I really wish I could have avoided...

"I haven't spoken to anyone about you, Sienna," he informs me.

I shift from foot to foot, hating that my shoes are already damp from the dew.

"Well, there's no chance anyone else knows on my end. I never even think about this, let alone talk about it." This is the first time this issue has flared up for a while.

"Zion may have sent someone," he mutters gruffly.

I close my eyes, trying to calm myself.

Zion isn't just Onyx's enemy. It's worse than that. What my friend doesn't know is that I'm connected to Zion in a way that has cursed me forever.

He's my father.

Years ago, my father hurt my mother. Badly. He almost killed her, and to save me, my mother plucked me out of my bed one stormy night and had the man in front of me smuggle us out of the Pack.

With no skills, she showed up at Onyx's estate when his mother was ruling alone, hoping her knowledge of how manor's run would be enough to secure a job.

By some mercy, my mother wasn't recognised and she was hired.

After that, she warned me never to speak about the secret, no matter how close I became with Lucia or Onyx. If they knew...I don't even want to think about it.